Brake failure blamed in Route 1 crash

Photo by: Tanya MitchellBelfast emergency crews are at work at the scene of a two-car crash on Route 1 Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 25.

Belfast — Police say faulty brakes on a pickup truck were the cause of a two-car accident on Route 1 that sent a North Carolina couple to Waldo County General Hospital Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 25.

Belfast Patrolman Wendall Ward said Steven Parker of North Carolina was headed east on Route 1 and slowed to turn into The Comfort Inn. Meanwhile 30-year-old Sarah Ginn was driving behind Parker in a van and began to slow down as she saw Parker preparing to turn.

Ward said Ginn then looked in her rear view mirror and noticed an older model pickup truck swerving to pass her on the right.

Ward said the driver of the truck, 31-year-old Anthony Littlefield, was unable to stop because the brakes had failed in the truck.

"He just couldn't avoid the cars in front of him," said Ward.

Littlefield was able to get around Ginn's van, Ward said, but he slammed into the rear end of Parker's late-model Toyota as Parker was turning into the hotel.

Ward said Parker and his wife, whose first name was not immediately available, were both transported by ambulance to Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast to be treated for unspecified injuries.

Ginn and her passenger, an 8-year-old boy, were not hurt in the accident. Ward said Littlefield and his two passengers, Colleen Narofsky and Todd Jackson, also escaped injury.